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We’re back at The Ferret on Friday 15th December for another late-night techno special, and this time we are delighted to be joined by long-time friend and associate (and bona fide Preston dance music star) COTTAM.

Paul Cottam has been a fixture in the city’s dance scene for decades, his high-energy techno sets usually the high point of any night he played – a few years ago he slowed the tempo down and released a now-legendary set of 12 inches, slow burning narcotic house remixes and edits of soul & afrobeat tracks which have since become highly prized collectors items.

His own productions – deep and percussive acid-tinged slow- burners for the most part – have become fixtures in hundreds of DJs record boxes, and Paul himself was in high demand as a DJ – being flown all over the world to drop tunes to switched on crowds – until he had to take a step back from live shows due to ill health a couple of years ago.

This will be the first time Paul has played in Preston in years, and one of only a tiny number of recent appearances. Anyone who’s heard one of his sets should know it’s a no-brainer, but he’s kindly done us a mix in case you haven’t – an hour and ten minutes of expertly spliced acidic robot-funk electro. We tried it out on the Concrète kids this afternoon, and by ten minutes into the set there was an impromptu dance-off in the living room – expect similar shapes to be thrown on the 15th.

Wilx is one half of the legendary club night Trauma – who were responsible for bringing Luke Slater and Billy Nasty to Preston and a load of mad parties the best part of a decade ago. Since then Wilx has been a regular on the decks at underground techno parties all around Preston, as well as playing live (and blowing everyone’s brains) with This Machine.
Listen: https://www.mixcloud.com/awilx/

Veteran DJ Nick Almond been DJing since 1989 – he spent time in Germany playing underground parties at the turn of the decade, and played legendary Leeds club The Orbit’s chillout room during it’s glory days of the early 90s. He started producing techno in the mid 90s, quickly being signed to integral music, as well as releasing on his own imprint, Method Records. Since then he’s DJ’d for Locked, Gash, Mad Hatters, and now runs his own underground techno night… somewhere.

Beats of Rage resident Mike Warburton – AKA Bail – will be rinsing the decks in his dark, venomous alter ego Barium Network. Following an EP released on Highlands techno label Hypnotic Groove back in April, his new project inhabits the dark, eerie, hypnotic recesses of rhythmic club music – a mixture of apocalyptic industrial, unnerving techno and collages of densely layered ambient grit. Expect fierce, unhinged body music covering explorative bass and techno with occasional interludes of beauty.
Listen: https://soundcloud.com/bailbeatsofrage/variations-3

Thomas Ragsdale is one of the country’s finest purveyors of moody post-everything electronica – half of long-running Leeds based due Worriedaboutsatan, Ragsdale has recently seen his star on the ascendant with his music being used to soundtrack part of Adam Curtis’ hypnotic state of the nation/world BBC documentary Hypernormalisation, along with a slew of well received shows across the country, both solo and with Worriedaboutsatan. Thomas also runs the record label This Is It Forever, releasing lush and glacial electronica and post-classical music.

Thomas’ set at Concrète last year was incredible, so we’re delighted to welcome him back – and even more delighted to announce that as well as a solo set, he will be performing an EXCLUSIVE collaboration with our own Polypores which will only be performed at this show.

AND Polypores will also be performing a solo set.

So… kick off the weekend / post holiday lethargy, cause this one is going to be awesome – maybe you should also listen to this mix someone did last year of tracks from This Is It Forever and Concrète releases…

Wilx is one half of the legendary club night Trauma – who were responsible for bringing Luke Slater and Billy Nasty to Preston and a load of mad parties the best part of a decade ago. Since then Wilx has been a regular on the decks at underground techno parties all around Preston, as well as playing live (and blowing everyone’s brains) with This Machine.

Sid Voltage is an experimental mash up DJ fusing Electro, Techno Tech Breaks, and sausage rolls. DJ’ing since 96 and better known as DJ Scott’3 a scratch artist playing Jungle, Drum&Bass and Acid Techno.

Veteran DJ Nick Almond been DJing since 1989 – he spent time in Germany playing underground parties at the turn of the decade, and played legendary Leeds club The Orbit’s chillout room during it’s glory days of the early 90s. He started producing techno in the mid 90s, quickly being signed to integral music, as well as releasing on his own imprint, Method Records. Since then he’s DJ’d for Locked, Gash, Mad Hatters, and now runs his own underground techno night… somewhere.

Impulse Array’s Mark Burford has been rolling out subterranean bangers from his studio in Lancaster for years, and his latest for Concrète Tapes explores familiar territory: four tracks of tense & seething minimal outsider techno – lengthy percussive workouts for your head and your feet.

The EP is limited to 40 copies on pink tape shells, with hand printed card sleeves – available from Bandcamp, in person at one of our nights, or from Action Records in Preston.

After his intense performance at Concrète last week, Impulse Array will be appearing Live at The Ferret in Preston again on 22nd July – get in touch if you’re interested in booking him – it’s an hour of the finest eyeball rolling techno, perfect for 4am at your sweaty rave, wedding or christening.

Biog:

Starting with a 4-track cassette recorder & a basic synth borrowed from his school music teacher, Mark Burford has been producing electronic music for over 25 years in a range of styles & under various pseudonyms, both as a solo artist & with others. From playing support slots with some of the biggest names in the UK’s burgeoning rave scene of the early 1990s to composing for contemporary dance & other arts projects, it’s been a diverse output.

After a hiatus of a few years he returned to music as Impulse Array, with 3 albums & an EPsworth of ‘space-techno’ so far, along with live performances & remixes yielding a growing base of listeners.

Aside from techno, Burford’s other real love is for atmosphere-heavy, brooding electronic ambient & drone music, found sounds & field recordings – his releases as Field Lines Cartographer (also on Concrète Tapes) showcase these productions (a new tape is brooding and expected to drop in the next month or so)

Lo Five returns to Concrète in June promoting his amazing new album When It’s Time To Let Go, out now on Patterned Air – two sides of wistful, melodic electronica, it’s hardly been off our turntable since it dropped, and has had some truly stellar reviews – including a full page from Simon Reynolds in The Wire. Those guys at Electronic Sound loved it too (in fact, this probably describes what you’ll be enjoying on the 29th…) “you will never want to leave. Vintage synths and drum machines and a recurring meditation bell summon early Orbital. Remarkable.”

Also back for a repeat visit, Lancaster’s master of subterranean techno Impulse Array: His releases over the past few years under both the Impulse Array and Field Lines Cartographer monikers have been essential listening – and tonight we’ll be dropping his latest release, an EP of lengthy techno workouts on our own Concrète Tapes (full details in the next few days).

Kicking off proceedings will be Concrète regulars Hyberus, who’re promising a set of Kosmische bleeps and beats – they’ve also got a new release, some sweet dark ambient experiments, available here (or no doubt at the show)

Conceived a little under a week ago, RED FLAG is a compilation of experimental and electronic music put together to raise funds for the Labour Party election fund in the final weeks of the 2017 General Election. Shortly after we started pulling it together, the Manchester bombing happened, so we’ve decided to split the money raised down the middle – half to Labour, half to the We Stand Together Manchester fund.

All the artists have given their music free of charge, and the cassettes have been donated by Concrète Tapes, so all the cash raised will go directly towards helping in the final push to kick out the Tories, and towards helping the families of those killed in the bombing (minus fees charged by bandcamp & paypal, and postage). As time is short, we’ll be transferring money daily where possible until the election (or until it stops selling…).

After the election, anything else raised will go to the Manchester fund. Check the tag #cassettes4corbyn on twitter to keep up with how much has been raised.

We’ve been overwhelmed by the quality and volume of music that’s been submitted – so much that there isn’t room on the tape for everything we received – so apologies if you’ve sent us a track and it doesn’t feature.

(We also advocate getting involved with canvassing or phonebanking in your nearest marginal over the next few weeks – it’s actually quite good fun…)

St James Infirmary is (mostly) Northumbrian polymath G.W Lang: new album A Heap of Broken Images sees the 30-odd year old project at it’s most psychedelic and expansive.

One minute dancing round a fire with an acid-fried celtic sex cult, the next sat at the bar at 3am in a smoke-filled jazz club, via some marvelously sideways pop songs: Lang doesn’t stay still in one form for the whole 45 minutes, with only a keen ear for melody and offbeat instrumentation holding the ship together.

Available on a limited run of 30 clear cassettes with hand-printed wraparound sleeve and labels (and on MP3) from bandcamp – the cassette also features a bonus tune that won’t be available on any other format.

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St James Infirmary, of Ashington, Northumberland, was formed in 1985 as the vehicle for singer, songwriter and multi- instrumentalist G.W.Lang and has been continuously active ever since. G.W.L. is assisted in his work by an evolving and rotating cast of bandmates, and at last count, SJI has had something in the region of 50 members.

“It was the best of bands, it was the worst of bands, it was the band of wisdom, it was the band of foolishness, it was the band of belief, it was the band of incredulity, it was the band of Light, it was the band of Darkness! Bliss it was at that concert to be alive, but to be drunk was very heaven!Charles Dickens: A Tale Of St. James Infirmary (1859)